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Pentagon Sets Bonuses to Retain Members of Special Operations

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 - The Defense Department has approved a series of incentives for members of elite Special Operations Forces who remain in the military, including a $150,000 bonus for the most experienced and highly trained combat personnel who promise six additional years in uniform, military officials said Saturday.

The pay and incentives package was devised to stem an exodus of senior sergeants, petty officers and warrant officers to higher-paying civilian security jobs in places like Baghdad and Kabul, just as they are needed to continue playing a pivotal role in combating terrorists and training indigenous security forces worldwide.

"Our investment in these professionals is great, and the experience gained through years of service makes them invaluable assets to our nation's defense," said Lt. Col. Alex Findlay, a personnel officer with the Special Operations Command. "Younger replacements can be trained, but experience is irreplaceable in the current worldwide war on terrorism."

A statement released by the Special Operations Command, at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., said that a new incentive to retain senior sergeants, petty officers and warrant officers with "critical skills" would offer bonuses of $150,000 for those who sign up for an additional six years. The sum decreases for re-enlistments of less time, down to $8,000 for one additional year.

About 1,500 members of Special Operations Forces would be eligible for the bonuses, Pentagon officials said. Enlisted personnel and warrant officers who have more than 25 years of service will receive a pay increase of $750 per month if they agree to stay on active duty for an additional year. And midlevel to senior noncommissioned officers in certain demanding assignments will receive a Special Duty Assignment Pay of $375 per month, the statement said.

The military's Special Operations community includes members of the Army Special Forces, often called Green Berets; Navy special warfare units, called Seals; and Air Force crews who fly specialized helicopters and airplanes to transport these forces in and out of the combat zone and to take precision firepower to the battlefield.

Army Special Forces units were the first members of the American military to set foot into Afghanistan at the start of hostilities there after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Their ability to build relationships with anti-Taliban commanders is credited with toppling the regime and ending Al Qaeda's safe haven there with a remarkably small use of American military force.

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And in the hours before the United States' heavy armored units crossed from Kuwait into Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, members of the Navy Seals quietly secured oil platforms in the northern Persian Gulf to prevent their sabotage, and Army Special Forces teams knocked out Iraqi forward military positions all along the country's border.

Although the number of Special Operations Forces in Iraq decreased after Baghdad fell, an insurgency that has continued to attack Iraqi civilians and coalition forces prompted commanders to again deploy these fighters in growing numbers.

In recent interviews in Iraq, senior military officers said that the number of Special Forces teams dropped rapidly after May 2003. But starting in late fall 2003, commanders realized they needed to increase the number of Army and Navy Special Operations Forces to hunt the insurgent leadership, train Iraqi forces and guard senior members of the emerging government in Baghdad, military officers said.

Senior enlisted members of the Army Green Berets or Navy Seals with 20 years or more experience earn about $50,000 in base pay, and can retire with a $23,000 pension. But private security companies, whose services are in growing demand in Iraq and Afghanistan, offer salaries of nearly $200,000 a year to the most experienced of them.

The commander of American Special Operations Forces, Gen. Bryan D. Brown of the Army, has been so concerned about the potential drain on his most experienced troops that he has gathered senior members of the Special Operations community -- and their spouses -- to hear what kind of bonuses, educational benefits and "quality of life" offerings might tempt them to remain in uniform.